Mari Pepin made her Bachelor franchise debut during Matt James’ season of The Bachelor. She then fell in love with and got engaged to Kenny Braasch on Season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise.
While she has found love in the franchise, she also has found love in the pageantry world.
Mari has been involved in the world of pageants her entire life, as she won Miss Maryland USA back in 2019, and then she placed in the Top 10 at the Miss USA pageant.
Recently, Mari appeared as a guest on the podcast Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation, with co-hosts Mike Johnson and Bryan Abasolo.
Mari Pepin opened up about negative stereotypes in the pageantry world
She has been opening up about the negative stereotypes and stigmas that people have placed on pageants and competing in them. Moreover, she has dismissed quite a few of them and told why, in fact, they aren’t all true.
Mari stated on the podcast, “There is a huge stigma about pageantry in general. People think it’s just about physical beauty or that it’s just a bunch of girls that run around in swimsuits. And while those are a part of the competition, it’s not just based on the physical aspect. We are in pageantry because we’re passionate, we’re driven, we’re hardworking. This is hard work.”
She continued talking about how much time and energy it takes someone to be in a pageant, and the prep before the actual pageant. Mari talked about the characteristics of discipline and hard work. She also added, “It takes a lot more than just a pretty face to win and to be an effective titleholder. You have to put in work and be involved in your community.”
Mari refutes the fact that pageant girls are not very smart
Furthermore, she discussed the fact that people automatically assume that if you are a pageant girl, then you are dumb or ditzy. In her rebuttal to this, she talked about how the world only sees the mess-ups on social media or television. Mari stated, “You don’t see all the brilliant, well thought out answers that people give on a daily basis.”
Mari also revealed to listeners that it was actually Kenny who gave her the nudge to compete in one final competition and pageant. She had thought she was done, but after some research, she found out she was eligible to compete in Puerto Rico. For the entire podcast with Mari and co-hosts Bryan and Mike, click here.
Bachelor Nation wishes Mari the best of luck as she competes in June for Miss Mundo Puerto Rico!
The Bachelorette premieres Monday, July 11th, on ABC.